Emergency-door.



PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

1. BELAIE. EMERGENCY DOOR.

PPLIATION FILED MAR. 3.1904- 2 SHEETS-SHEET .1.

Witnesses:

Attorneys fPatented February 21, 1905.

PATENT rrrcn.

ISAIE BELAIR, OF MONTREAL, CANADA.

EMERGENCY-DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,093, dated February 21, 1905.

i Application filed March 3, 1904, Serial No. 196,449.

T @ZZ whom, t muy concern:

Be it known that I, ISAIE BELAIR, a subject vof the King of GreatBritain, residing in the city and district of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements 1n Emergency- ADoors; and I do hereby declare that the folprovements in emergency-doors adapted to be `applied to public buildings such as theaters,

cnice-buildings, and places wherein there may be assembled forvarious purposes large crowds of people, the object of the invention being particularly to provide readily releasable means for exposing an exit-opening formed in the wall of such a building, which opening may be used as an exit from the interior of the building.

A further object is to provide such closures for the exit-opening as may be readily secured in a closed position and provide locking means, which locking means may be readily disengaged to permit opening of the doors and be of such simple construction that any person of average intelligence will be able to manipulate the same without special instruction.

To that end the invention has been designed, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which similar numerals of referwhich in Fig. l is closed, the inner door 4 being shown in its closed position. Fig. 2 is a View similar to Fig. l, except that the doors are in an open position. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view showing the locking means for one of the doors in an assembled position, this view showing the mechanism which is hereinafter referred to as a temporary lock for the external door. Fig. 5 is adetached detail view of the rockable locking member adapted to engage with suitable engaging means on the external door for the purpose of locking the same in position, and Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating a fragmentary portion of the external door with a hand-pull in position thereon which is adapted for use in closing the said external door.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the floor of a structure to which the improved device is applied.

2 indicates a wall of the building.

3 indicates ground surrounding the superstructure, though the device is applicable to various positions either on the ground-level or at any suitable distance above the same by providing the well-known balcony or fire-escape convenience too well known to require particular illustration.

4 indicates the inner door, which in the present instance is shown as a slidable one adapted to lie in close contact with the inner wall of the structure, and 5 is the exterior door of the combinatiom hereinafter referred to as a gravity-door, because of the fact that the said door 5 is preferably hinged or secured at its lower portion by means of hinges 6 or any suitable equivalent thereof which will be adapted to form a permanent connection between the door 5 and the Hoor 1.

As the device is intended to be applied particularly to theaters and buildings adapted to be used by a large number of people, it is especially desirable that all of the operative mechanism and means for projecting the doors to an open position shall be inclosed for the purpose of preventing unlawful manipulation thereof or any disarrangement of the coperating parts thereof which will result in an accidental failure of the device to operate properly when called upon. To that end it is preferred that as many of the operative parts as are exposed within the interior of the structure shall be covered by a suitable shield or any convenient covering means, so as to render the same inaccessible to the average person.

As before stated, the device comprises a plurality of doors, and' it is my intention to provid'e means whereby either of the doors may be locked in position independently of the other, as may be necessary under some circumstances, and also to provide means whereby both of the doors are held in position by IOO a single lock and are promptly opened upon release of the said lock. To that end the jamb 8 is provided-with the eyelet 9, adapted to be engaged by the hook 10, which latter hook is pivotally connected with the said door 4, and the door 4 is suspended from a trackrail 11 by means of brackets 12, connected, respectively, to the said door 4 at one end and to rollers 13 at their upper end, which rollers 13 are adapted to travel longitudinally of the track 11 until such time as the door 4 shall abut against the stops 14, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings) at which time the door will be in a fully open position. In convenient juxtaposition to the upright member 8 is a vertically-arranged guideway or passage 15,

-in which is vertically movable the counterbalance-weight 16, to which counterbalanceble 17 runs thence over sheaves or frictionreducing rollers 19, 22, and `23, secured in conveniently disposed brackets 20, which brackets are secured upon the inner face of the wall 21 of the building, and is connected with the door 4 by means of the eyelet 25, which is secured to the said door. Thus it will be evident that upon release of the latcharm from its engaging hook 9 when the weight 16 is in an elevated position gravity will cause said Weight to drop, thereby projecting," the door4to the open position. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

Cooperating with the door 4 is the gravitydoor 5, which is provided upon its inner face with a handhold 26, (shown in detail in Fig. 6,) the said handhold comprising the face-plate 27 and the transversely-extending bar 28, thereby providing a convenient grasp whereby the door 5 may be closed and held in position until the same is locked temporarily, if desired, as hereinafter described, so that the said door 5 will be in proper position to be securely locked upon closing the door 4 to the position indicated4 in Fig. 1. The locking means for the door 5 is best illustrated in the details, Figs. 4 and 5, wherein the hook-shaped member 29 is pivotally connected to the wall 2 of the building by means of a pin or pivot projected through the pivot-opening 30 of the said locking member 29.-` Upon the do'or 5 is provided at any convenient point a rod or staple 31, and the hook-shaped outer extension 32 of the member 29 is adapted to engage with the said member 31 of the said door 5 upon bringing the same to the proper position therefor. The inner end of the hook Inember 29 is projected through a longitudinally-slidable plate 33, the said member 33 being provided with longitudinally-disposed slots 34, through which may be projected screws or other fastening means whereby the said plate 33 is held in position, preferably slightly below the track 11, and may be supported below said trackway by means of vertically-disposed pins 35, which pins will prevent lateral movement of the said bar 33. rlhe locking member 29 is provided with an extension in the form of an angular offset 36, which is adapted to engage the slidable plate 33, the opening in said plate through which said extension 36 vis projected being of suflicient size to permit of some play therein of that portion of the hook member 29 which lies within the opening. Connected approximately at this end of the plate 33 is a spring 37, which may be connected to any fixed point, so that as the plate 33 is projected in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig.` 4 the said spring 37 will be placed under tension. The opposite end of the plate 33 is provided with a forwardly-extending shoulder or projection 38, which projects sufflciently far to be engaged by the advance edge of the door 4 when the said door is closing, whereby the plate 33 will be projected in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. However, it is desirable that the vplate 33 may be actuated prior to the time of the closing of the door 4 for the purpose of providing a temporary lock for the outer door 5, and means are provided whereby the said plate 33 maybe locked in such temporary position for the purposeof supporting the outer door 5 through the instrumentality of the engaging hook 32, formed on the member 29. To this end the vertically-slidable plate 39 is provided, which plate 39 is formed at its lower end with the laterally-projecting shoulder 40, which is adapted to be engaged manually for the purpose of shifting the said slidable plate 39 vertically as may be desired. For the purpose of establishing relative positions reference is made to Fig. 2, wherein it will be seen that the shoulder 38 is positioned above and to the left of the slidable member 39, the inner and outer doors both being open. Assuming' that it is desirable to lock the outer door temporarily, the said door is closed, as shown in Fig. 3, the plate 33 is shifted longitudinally to bring the shoulder 38 slightly to the right of a line drawn vertically through the longitudinal axis of the sliding plate 39, whereupon said plate 39 may be projected upwardly against the tension of the'spring 41, which normally holds it in a relatively lower position, thereby projecting the engaging hook 32 into engagement with the staple or other securing means 31, secured upon the door 5, at which time the spring 37', which is of greater torsional strength than the spring 31, will cause the engagement of the upper end of the slidable plate 39'with the shoulder 38 of said plate 33, thereby holding the door 5 temporarily locked in position. After this is accornplished the door 4 may be closed, whereupon the recess 42 in the advance face thereof will impinge the shoulder 38 of plate 33, thereby projecting' the said plate 33 to a greater dis- IOO ITO

tance in the line indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4 and more effectually locking the hook 32 with the door 5, after which the hook l() of the door may engage with its eye or staple 9 and all of the parts will be held in locked or closed position.

In use it is preferred that both doors 4 and 5 shall be kept closed to prevent use of the emergency-exit except in case of necessity. When it is desired to use the exit closed by my improved door, all that is necessary will be to release the hook l() from its engagement with the staple or eye 9, whereupon the weight 16 will drop by gravity, thereby causing a retraction of the door 4, whereupon the spring 37 willcause aretraction of the plate 33 in the direction opposite that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, thereby carrying with it the inner end 36 of the rockable hook-shaped member 29 and disengaging thehook 32 from the engaging member 3l, connected with the door 5. d

It is designed that the door 5 shall be a gravity or automatically operated door of some character, and for that purpose I have connected therewith, preferably at the upper end thereof, the weight 43, which projects, preferably, beyond the plane of a line drawn vertically of the said door, whereby as soon as the said door 5 is released from its engagement with the hook 32 gravity will immediately open the said door and the inner door being opened will thereby provide almost instantly a convenient means of exit from the building to which the doors are connected. I have illustrated details of connection and locking apparatus adapted to serve as convenient means for engagement of the doors 4 and 5; but it is also understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the specific form of construction of such parts, as it is evident that various modifications may be made in the shape thereof and in the cooperative relation of such parts without in any manner departing from the spirit of my invention, which comprises major elements independent of the slight details of construction incident to operation thereof which it is desired to claim, broadly, except as may be hereinafter limited in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a device of the characterdescribed, a plurality of doors movable, in opening, in different directions, means for separately locking one of said doors, separate means for locking the other of said doors, and means whereby upon releasing one of said locking means both of said doors are opened.

2. In a device of the character described, a gravity-door, a lock therefor, and a slidable door adapted to actuate said lock.

3. In a device of the character described, a gravity-door, a slidable door, and a lock for one of said doors actuated by the other thereof.

4. In a device of the character described, a plurality of doors, a locking means for one of said doors, operative by the other thereof, a locking means for the second door and means for opening both doors operable upon release of one of said locks.

5. In adevice of the character described, a slidable door, an automatically operative opening means therefor, a lock adapted to render said opening means' inactive, and a second door sustained from said slidable door.

6. In a device of the character described, a gravity-door, a slidable door, and locking mean's for said gravity-door extending into the path of travel of said slidable door.

7. In a device ofv the character described, a slidable door, a gravity door, and means whereby said gravity-door may be manually locked while said slidable door is in an open position.

8. In a device of the character described, a slidable door, a gravity door, and means whereby said gravity-door may be manually locked while said slidable door is in an open position, said means being actuated by the slidable door to more securely lock the gravitydoor in position.

9. In a device of the character described, a gravity-door, a longitudinally-slidable plate, a rockable engaging member adapted to be actuated thereby, means on the gravity-door adapted to be engaged by said rocliable memberhand a slidable door cooperating therewit 10. In a device of the character described, an interior and an exterior door, means operated by the interior door for locking the outer door, a lock for the inner door, and gravityoperated means for actuating the inner door to release the outer door.

11. In a device of the character described, a plurality of doors one of which is pivotally connected at its lower edge, a weight thereupon, a slidable door eoperating therewith, means actuated by the slidable door for locking the gravity-door in an upright position, and means for actuating the inner door to open the same.

12. In a device of the character described, a plurality of doors one of which is pivotally connected at its lower edge, a weight thereupon, a slidable door coperating therewith, means actuated by the slidable door for locking the gravity-door in an upright position, meansv for actuating the inner door to open the same, andmeans automatically operating for releasing the outer door.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ISAIE BELAIR.-

fitnessesi T. MYNARD, M. MCALEER.

IIO 

